


an occasionally silent evening of vampyrism and tales of the sort

by dall_smiles



Category: Historical RPF
Genre: Minor Mary Shelley/Percy Shelley, Other, Vampires, Vampyre Lord Byron, because it's mainly byron being a vampyre and probaby nothing more, but i stan vampyre!byron, i know it's july, idk if i should've tagged claire because all she does is laugh at byron's joke lmao, minor Lord Byron/John Polidori
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-09 18:39:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19481716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dall_smiles/pseuds/dall_smiles
Summary: Lord Byron and John Polidori have dinner at the Shelleys', when Polidori gets a brilliant idea.





	1. the beginning of a tale, involving the vampyrism of a young lord

The night before now, John Polidori participated in a contest with Godwin's pretty daughter, her lover, her step-sister, and Lord Byron. He wasn't coming up with any idea, of any sort, so he returned himself to the drawing room, where his employer sat.  
"Good evening."  
"Hello, my Lord."  
A silence thick enough to suffocate both men sat between them. Polidori grabbed his coat and laid it over his chair before sitting down.  
"PollyDolly, are you free this evening?" Byron asked, fidgeting with a ribbon on a book.  
"Yes, why do you ask?"  
"I'm headed to the Shelleys' for dinner. Do you care to join?"  
"I don't know. I was thinking about working on my play-"  
"-Join us."  
Silence once more stayed unbroken until John took a deep breath, exhaled and opened his notebook, "Alright, don't make a fool of me. Okay?"  
"Alright, PollyDolly-"  
Polidori's voice grew a bit louder, "-My name is John Polidori, my Lord. Not this.. 'PollyDolly,' you speak of, as I'm sure you know."  
Byron noticed how annoyed he was, and biting back a smirk, explained, "Yes, yes, I know Polly. Additionally, I have a, um, matter to discuss after dinner, if that's alright."  
"Of course."  
And as Byron left the room to work, the suffocating silence reappeared, and Polidori had never wanted Byron to blabber on with nonsensical words about the doctor more. 

As the evening approached, Byron and Polidori rode to the Shelleys', lacking discussion. The silence between them still wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable either. When Byron would cough into his handkerchief, Polidori would quietly exclaim 'bless you' as the young Lord nodded with a smile. The coughing was a break from silence, although not long enough to keep Polidori satisfied.

The dinner was fine. Mary explained her ideas and stories, Percy chimed in with a few additions, Claire sat and was the most polite of them all, if Polidori was being honest, and Byron, as he always did, did not follow up on what he said regarding making a fool of Polidori.  
"Yes, PollyDolly here-"  
John faked a cough, alerting his employer of the use of the nickname, Byron chuckled, ignoring his doctor's wishes, "Polly was telling me about an idea he had for a play."  
"Oh, my Lord, it's really nothing."  
Byron laughed, harder than Polidori had seen in weeks, exclaiming how he agreed with the doctor that it was nothing.  
"Polly's a better doctor than writer, and he's terrible at that!" Claire let out a chuckle, and Polidori glared at the Lord.  
As dinner finished up and Byron and Polidori were a few minutes from leaving, Byron remembered why he brought Polidori.  
"Mary, Percy, may Polidori and I speak in the bedroom?"  
"Yes. It's the first door on the left, ignore the mess of papers - Percy's been working extra hard recently." She smiled and as her friend and his doctor headed into the room, Ms Godwin pressed a kiss to Percy's cheek.

"What did you need to discuss?" Polidori asked - his hands were cold and he was more tired than he thought he'd be at this hour - ready to go home.  
"Doctor.. I've been feeling weird lately. Let me show you."  
He pushed Polidori down onto a chair, stood up straight and tall and tilted his chin up, which Polidori pushed away at, beginning to stand himself, “My Lord! What are you doing?" he asked, in a tone he rarely used with his employer. "Byron, I-"  
"John, be quiet! Godwin's pretty daughter is in the other room, you wouldn't want to make a fool of yourself in front of her, would you?" He asked, quietly and with a familiar smirk as he pushed up his chin once again, and bit down into the pale flesh of his doctor's neck, drawing a near sraight line of blood down from near his chin to his collarbone.  
"My-my Lord.." he felt light-headed, and fell back further in the chair.  
"PollyDolly, I believe you've cured me! That was exhilerating, wasn't it? Just lovely!"

And, as Polidori shook himself from his daydream, he realized what he would write about.


	2. vampyrism and sickness of the previous sort; a tale continued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byron becomes slightly ill, his doctor panics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m tired lol

“Good morning, My Lord.”  
“Hello, PollyDolly.”  
“I got an idea for the contest.”  
Byron spun around in his chair, “I hope it’s not as bad as your plays.” He said, a profound lack of sincerity in his voice - nevertheless, it still hurt.  
“I believe it will be brilliant.”  
“Mary’s idea is brilliant.”  
“Mine will be as well.”  
Polidori adjusted his coat, coughed, and continued:  
“Would you.. look over it for me? Like those poems?”  
“Which poem?”  
Byron was silent for a moment, and his brows tensed.  
“The-the poems? The ones I gave you a few weeks back?”  
“Oh,” he laughed, as hard as he had in Polidori’s fantasy the previous night. “You.. were serious? I told Percy to take them to the lake and throw them out.”  
Polidori sighed, “Oh. All right, my Lord.”  
Byron sipped his wine (Polidori noted how he was probably tipsy) and laughed once more, although the situation didn’t seem very funny, if Polidori was being honest. “Well, what’s this great idea of yours?” He asked, raising a brow.  
“Do you know what a Vampyre is?”  
“I do not.”  
“They’re often Lords or Counts, with a seductive taste for blood.”  
“Oh?” Polidori assumed that Byron wasn’t very interested, despite the fact that this was the longest Byron had gone without making fun of him.  
“They seduce pretty girls and suck the bloods from their necks, and—“  
“—I got the picture, John. Thank you. It sounds,” he paused, “Terrible. Although, it does remind me. Polly, will you follow me?”  
“Of course.”  
As Byron sat up and sat down his wine with a sigh, he led Polidori to the former’s room.  
“I’ve been feeling rather.. sick, as of late.”  
“How so, my Lord?”  
“Percy noted the two bites on my neck, he also said I’ve been getting paler.. I burn easier than I had previously when in the sun. On a separate note, how’s Claire? She’s been avoiding me.”  
As Byron continued rambling, the young doctor’s face paled.   
“My Lord.. did I ever tell you my muse for the Vampyre?”  
“No, you didn’t. Whom was it?”  
“You, my Lord. I’ll check you out, but these symptoms are very concerning.”

Polidori looked through books all evening— he skipped dinner with the Shelleys and Byron attempted to persuade him to go swimming with him and Shelley, but Polidori stayed in his room, looking through every book he had.  
When Byron returned, he smiled, “Polly, good evening!”  
“Hello, my Lord. How are you?”  
“Fine. Have you gotten any idea of what’s wrong with me?”  
“No, not yet. May I check your neck?”  
Byron leaned closer and Polidori examined the pale skin.  
“These don’t seem to be anything bad, simply an insect bite or two. How was the sun?”  
“Fine.”  
“Have you burned much?”  
Polidori rolled up the poet’s sleeve — “No, your color is looking better as well.”  
Byron let Polidori look a bit more, before heading off to bed.   
The doctor stayed up for a little longer.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sure they're probably OOC, but I haven't written about these guys enough uwu


End file.
